Can Dreams Help Predict The Future?

Many times when we wake up in the morning, we remember our dreams so vividly that they almost feel real. When we remember our dreams, point for point, they can seem so realistic that we wonder if our brain is trying to hint to us something that may happen to us — or, something that has happened to us before in a past life. When it comes to sleep and dreaming, many wonder if our dreams are just stories in our head or if they actually have a deeper meaning to us in our lives.

Some people who have dreams about individuals in their lives, and even about themselves, are curious if dreams are trying to tell us something. Some predict that dreams may be a way to see into the future of our lives, telling us what to do to get to where we want to be. It would be nice if dreams were roadmaps telling us where to go, right? 

Well, experts are now weighing in on whether or not dreams can predict the future.

Everyone dreams in different ways. Some people dream about real people in their lives and real events, while others dream about things they could possibly have never done nor seen. In itself, dreams are "a state of consciousness" where we have "sensory and emotional" occurrences while we sleep (via Medical News Today). 

Many wonder whether or not what we dream about has any possibility of coming true. It turns out, there is a very specific name for these type of dreams. Precognitive or Premonition dreams are dreams that seemingly predict the future (via Sleep Foundation). Some people believe that they have these types of dreams because what they have dreamt about reaches fruition in real life. While there are some precognitive dreams that people believe can help predict the onset of illness and medical emergencies, there is very little scientific evidence that proves that dreams can predict the future. 

There have been some instances in which people believe to have predicted their own death. For example, both President Abraham Lincoln apparently dreamt of his own death before his assassination and Robert Kennedy's assassination was also predicted in a dream. In fact, On June 4, 1968, one woman said she dreamt of Kennedy's death for months and reported it three times before his assassination on June 5, 1968 (via Sleep Foundation).

But ultimately, to know the true answer about dreams and predicting our future, scientists need to conduct much more research.